Mike Pompeo played an important role during the Trump administration in shifting America’s China policy to one of confrontation, but he had to wait several years to have the impact he wanted. First as Trump’s director of the Central Intelligence Agency and then as his Secretary of State, Pompeo saw China as America’s most dangerous challenger. But for the first few years in office, Trump was focused on negotiating a trade deal with China and often courted Xi Jinping. As Pompeo wrote in his memoir, Never Give an Inch: Fighting for the America I Love, Trump “was more inclined to view power through a financial lens. The question was constantly applied to international power dynamics: “My Mike, who’s got the money?” The spread of the coronavirus from China to the U.S. — along with an upcoming election — changed Trump’s perspective on China and gave Pompeo and other hawks the opening they needed. Over the last year or so of the administration, Pompeo worked to label the